Activated carbon; Constructed wetlands; Environmental risk assessment; Life cycle assessment; Micropollutants; Constructed wetland; Environmental performance; Environmental risks; Life-cycle performance; Micropollutant removals; Removal from municipal wastewaters; Treatment performance; Environmental Engineering; Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment; Environmental Science (miscellaneous); Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Résumé :
[en] Wastewater treatment systems produce environmental impacts in their construction and operation, and nature-based treatment processes offer opportunities to reduce the environmental burdens. Constructed wetlands represent such a solution that can remove micropollutants from municipal effluent. This study evaluates life cycle impacts and environmental risk of constructed wetlands for improved treatment performance. The assessment of laboratory- and pilot-scale installation performance provides insights into sustainability of scaling fundamental research to technology demonstration. The normalised life cycle assessment showed that the laboratory installation generated higher environmental impacts than the pilot, due to the cooling tank and its associated electric power (∼60% of the total burdens for five impact categories). The avoided environmental impacts through the micropollutants' elimination ranged from 50% to 99.9% (for freshwater ecotoxicity and human toxicity, respectively). A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis highlighted how the substrate and electricity demands represented the highest environmental impacts, thus extending lifespan of a full-scale system whilst maintaining treatment performance represents the most notable opportunity to improve the environmental performance. The findings support measures to enhance sustainability through design, procurement and operation stages of development. Constructed wetlands represent a sustainable nature-based form of wastewater treatment, and this study offers lessons to further enhance their environmental performance.
Disciplines :
Ingénierie chimique
Auteur, co-auteur :
Brunhoferova, Hana ; Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
VENDITTI, Silvia ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) > Department of Engineering (DoE)
HANSEN, Joachim ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) > Department of Engineering (DoE)
Gallagher, John ; Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Co-auteurs externes :
yes
Langue du document :
Anglais
Titre :
Life cycle performance and associated environmental risks of constructed wetlands used for micropollutant removal from municipal wastewater effluent
R-AGR-3384 - INTERREG-NWE WOW - part UL (07/03/2018 - 31/12/2023) - HANSEN Joachim
Organisme subsidiant :
Interreg North-West Europe Interreg Greater Region
N° du Fonds :
NWE619
Subventionnement (détails) :
This work was partially funded by Interreg North-West Europe (European Regional Development Fund) as a part of the WOW! Project (Wider business Opportunities for raw materials from Wastewater) [grant NWE619].
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